Council Debates Bulkhead Heights

STONE HARBOR – At its Dec. 19 meeting, Stone Harbor Borough Council continued its discussion of what level of bulkhead height should be mandated through a change to borough ordinances.  
Dealing with both an increase in nuisance flooding and a gradual but steady rise in sea level, council is seeking how to best protect the borough from bayside flooding.
Council members heard a report from Dr. Stewart Farrell, founder of Stockton University’s Coastal Research Center. Under contract to the borough, the Coastal Research Center recently mapped the actual elevations of bayside bulkheads. Calculating the height at 831 locations while walking the bulkheads right up to the border with Avalon, the center has provided the borough with detailed information on the present state and variability of bulkhead heights.
Current borough regulations require new bulkheads to be 7.5 feet above mean sea level. The measure used by Farrell’s team is slightly different, relying on an average tidal range. Council member Charles Krafczek pointed out that the 7.5 feet mentioned in the borough ordinance is the equivalent of 6.7 feet bulkhead height in the Coastal Research Center report.
The most prevalent bulkhead height, again using the center’s measurements, is 6 to 6.5 feet, which accounts for 293 bulkheads.  The problem, in terms of nuisance flooding, stems from the 50 or so bulkheads that are significantly lower and thus provide gaps in the bulkhead wall through which bay waters can pour during extreme high tides, major rain events or weather events that cause high wave action.
Beyond the current issue of nuisance flooding, council is also looking for decisions on bulkhead heights to protect the community over the next several decades, with projections of sea-level rise and increased significant storm events.
Borough engineers added to the growing body of data available to council members by showing FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) data on likely water heights for 10-year, 20-year, 50-year and other projected storms. Combining the data on what a 10-year storm event is likely to produce with the specific pattern of bulkheads in the borough allows for a sophisticated analysis of how much of the borough would be inundated and what new level of bulkhead heights might prevent the flooding.
An example used was that a 10-year storm event could produce a still-water elevation of 6.3 feet, whereby more than half of the current bulkheads in the borough would be breached.
Farrell also pointed out that a number of bulkheads have significant gaps, where one bulkhead ends and another begins.
The discussion was wide-ranging, focusing, in turn, on safety, quality of life, economic issues and the sheer length of time it will take for any new height ordinance to have a large impact across the bay properties. Bulkhead changes would be triggered either by new construction or major renovation, involving more than 40 percent of the value of the property.
Council member Raymond Parzych urged consideration of both short- and long-term goals. It will take years for new bulkhead regulations to impact the majority of bayside bulkheads, he noted. “We need to do something short-term about the 40 or 50 bulkheads that are so low they frequently allow flooding of the whole community,” he said.
How to help some existing property owners afford new bulkheads adds complexity to the debate.
Council referred the issue and the new data sets to its special committee that is considering the bulkhead issue. A draft ordinance already exists with the major missing piece being the consensus recommendation on bulkhead height. 
Several council members expressed a sense of urgency with respect to the issue, and it is likely the whole council will be considering a specific height recommendation soon.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.